Are Electronics Messing With Your Sleep?

Admit it.  We all have laid in bed and sent out a text from our phones or worked on our laptops before going to sleep.  Over 75 percent of the worlds population falls asleep with their phones within an arms reach according to NBC news Portland.  This is a prime example as to how light exposure prior to bed can effect disrupt an individuals sleep patterns, just like we discussed in class with the rat’s exposure to light prior to sleep altered their sleeping cycles.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 90 percent of Americans regularly use a computer or electronic device of some kind in the hour before they go to bed.  Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteScreen Shot 2015-10-14 at 4.35.20 PM showed that exposure to light from computer tablets significantly lowered levels of the hormone melatonin, which regulates our internal clocks and plays a role in the sleep cycle.  A research study was conducted according to a journal published in Applied Ergonomics in which volunteers used electronics for various amounts of time measuring the amount of eyes their eyes received.  They came up with the conclusion that two hours of exposure to bright lights from items such as laptops or tablets reduced melatonin levels in the brain by about 22 percent.

Irregular sleep patterns increase the probability heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.  Also, according to Brady Dennis, a writer from The Washington Post,  “chronic suppression of melatonin has been linked to increased risk of prostate, colorectal and breast cancers”.  The usage of electronics before one hits the hay can cause extreme health repercussions.

By using electronics prior to bed is clearly not the greatest idea for the fact that it does indeed alter our sleep which can cause an increase in an individual’s chances of many life threatening diseases.  The best solution is to try to make a conscious effort to stay away from their electronics at least three ours prior to bedtime.  Another thing to do to prevent one from using any sort of electronic prior to going to sleep would be to charge these electronics in any other room than the bedroom.  Staying away from said devices will help one both get to bed and stay asleep longer.

Work Cited:

http://www.kgw.com/story/news/investigations/2014/04/14/doctor-cell-phones-hurt-sleep-quality/12584984/

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/really-using-a-computer-before-bed-can-disrupt-sleep/?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/health/05light.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/power-down-better-sleep

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/12/22/ipads-tablets-smartphones-disrupt-good-sleep-study-finds/

https://sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/electronics-the-bedroom

 

5 thoughts on “Are Electronics Messing With Your Sleep?

  1. Holly Rubin

    Honestly, I have a love/ hate relationship with using my phone before I go to sleep. Sometimes it’s good because it calms be down and distresses my brain before going to sleep. Other times, it ends up getting me all wound up and before you know it, it’s three hours after I “went to bed”. As shown in your blog, three hours of looking at a phone or computer screen isn’t very good for not only sleeping habits, but also for your eyes. I am curious if looking at bright screens in a dark room increases the risk of eye problems or not being able to fall asleep.

  2. Sarah Elizabeth Pettoruto

    This makes sense and I have heard of this theory before, and agree with it! However, I don’t know how people our age (that are in school or working) could possibly stop using electronic devices three hours before bed. I think it would be better to not be texting for an hour while laying in bed before sleep, but not using anything three hours in advance seems a little extreme. I understand the idea behind it I just do not see this specific fact to be possible in this day in age. Like I said, shutting your phone off when you absolutely can would definitely help with sleeping patterns, though.

  3. Bailee Nicole Koncar

    Hi Greg!
    I immediately wanted to read your post because we are all guilty of using our electronic devices before bed. I often use my laptop to watch Netflix, and my phone is always within arms reach so I am able to check social media or respond to any messages. I often spend hours on these devices before actually falling asleep. I think they are more of a distraction than anything else and make it impossible to go to sleep. For this reason, I can understand how they could disrupt our sleeping patterns. I also heard that the radiation from the laptops can cause health related problems. It is interesting and worth knowing all of the potential consequences of using electronic devices before bed. However, other times watching Netflix makes me fall asleep very easily. I suppose this may depend on how long of a day I had and how sleepy I was before watching.

  4. Patrick Hryckiewicz

    I think that many people would find it very hard to stop using their phones for 3 hours before bed. I know that I definitely would not be able to stop using my phone even an hour before bed. Most people use their phones as alarms, so it would be quite hard to charge the phone in a separate room as well. The Huffington Post says that the light that your phones emits is called “blue light,” and this is the light that makes us more alert and lowers our melatonin levels. The article also says that people can get an app on their phone or laptop that will filter out the blue light, making it so that melatonin levels will remain the same. I think that getting the app would be the best and most reasonable solution to this problem.

  5. Jada Baity

    Although I understand the repercussions of being on your phone right before you go to sleep, I find that being on my phone before I go to bed decompresses me and relieves me from the stress and activity I experienced throughout my day. Checking up on notifications and social media not only help me to reflect on the day I just had but it also gets me prepared for the next one. I can check the weather app to see what the weather will be like and then I plan my outfit accordingly the next morning. Or I can go through my school email account and put into my calendar all of the events in the upcoming week. While there has been depressing effects associated with being on your phone so late at night, I find it necessary to do it in order to get myself together for the upcoming day. And I’m sure that there are a lot of other people who would say the same thing.

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